Dinner menu board

jennifer.teitzel
Jennifer Teitzel
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Got this idea off of pinterest for our mommy group (MOPS) at church. We started with a foam board and cut it to the size we wanted. -Used mod podge to cover it with scrapbook paper. -Hot glued clothes pins (painted or covered in paper) to the side -Used my SU label punches to do the abbreviations of the days of the week onto the clothes pins -Made a little pocket out of coordinating paper to hold more paint chips (dinner cards) -Hot glued a push pin into the foam to hang a paper clip keeping index cards for shopping lists/notes -Hot glued some wide ribbon to the back to hang where-ever in the kitchen Some ladies altered this and turned it into a chore board for the kiddos or a to-do list for the hubby. I love the idea and simplicity of it. The fact that it can be made to match your kitchen? Bonus.

80's Birthday Invitations

My daughter wanted to have an 80's roller skating birthday party, so I just had to make invitations for the theme! I used my Cricut with the "Indie Art" cartridge for the cassette tape. I was lucky enough to pop into my local Michael's when they're $3.99 paper packs were buy one get one free PLUS they let me use my mobile Joanne coupon for 25% off my total purchase! SCORE!! I used several diffrent style stamps on the front, and the invite part on the back is from Stampin' Up!

Shower curtain & pie

Isn't this just the most perfect looking apple pie? I think so too :) I just LOVE pinterest for just about everything! I found this recipe and altered it a bit (a tsp of lemon juice instead of a whole lemon, and cut out a couple of apples <---sure glad I did, I still had way too many!) You can find the recipe for both the pie and the crust by clicking HERE

Our Christmas this year was a homemade one. On our road trip, our girls were talking about how much they'd like to share the room upstairs and turn the loft into their "play" area, so we surprised them by making it happen while they were at grandmas for the weekend! I started by making a shower curtain for their bathroom. We decided on black and white with them each having their own accent colors. My oldest loves purple while my youngest is a pink kind of gal (in fact, she just got out of the shower and is walking around in pink socks, pink shorts, pink t-shirt, with a pink towel on her head). So their bathroom is zebra with purple and pink. For my first shower curtain, I'm pretty proud of it! I actually wasn't sure if I'd have enough fabric so I had to get creative with it, that's where the ruffles came in. And guess what?! I think the end result looks planned!

Homemade blackberry freezer jam

I have so many berries around me it makes my mouth water. My family has been canning lately, guess I caught the bug :) I decided (after helping can pears all day) that I did NOT want to traditional can to make some kind of sweet treat with the berries we've been picking. In searching for a recipe for freezer jam, I noticed that most recipes use TONS of sugar. I knew that I needed to search for a low-sugar recipe. I found this one and that's what I used in the big jars, going to keep & use them for our family. Used a more traditional recipe for the little baby food jars (wash/sanitize them & as long as their in the freezer, they'll work!) and I'm going to give them as gifts.

I tried the jam this morning after it sat in the fridge all night. Boy oh boy was it tasty! It soaked right through my bread and I had to use a spoon instead of a knife, but MAN did I enjoy licking that spoon when I was done! As you can see, JR agrees with me. This is good stuff! :)

Office Accessories

I took an old pair of shutters and did a rough job spray painting them white. Spray painted some wooden clothes pins green to match my other project (the "corkboard") and, VIOLA!! A message center!

I found this great rectangle frame at the thrift store. After taking out the glass, I roughly spray painted it then stapled this great fabric onto the back of it. I bought a roll of cork from Wal*Mart (cheaper there than Michael's, PLUS I got more if the cork!) so I stapled that behind the fabric. Woot Woot I made a cute corkboard!

Upcycled desk

This thing is so out of style ;)
I decided that I need a little home office to help run hubbies business (check it out! Teitzel & Co.) and I'm cheap, so this old thing is what I get.

The inside of the drawers needed help too, and since I love old paper, I decided to Mod Podge old book paper inside the drawers. Might as well make it into something that I'll love to use!

I used that same paint (different color though, I used a green on the desk) by 'Zinsser' called "B-I-N" (see previous post about my entry way for more info on the paint). Do you see the difference in the top left drawer than the others? I sanded it while the paint was still tacky, the others I sanded after they had dried. I'm a bit sad. I really prefer the top left drawer to all the others. But overall, I am pleased with the outcome.

The inside of the drawers turned out great. In fact, not only do I love to open them and use them, so does the baby. Great. I'm now looking for a yard stick to stick through the handles on each side to keep him from getting in the drawers and throwing all my perfectly organized stuff EVERYWHERE. Maybe I'll even paint the yard stick to match?

The end result? My great little office space! I am pleased with the outcome and even more pleased with the time it took to complete. With this Zinsser paint, there is no need to pre-sand or prime, it does all that for you! Wal-mart does carry it, BUT so does Home Depot and they'll price match AND beat their price by 10%. Needless to say, I recommend you checking out the price at your local Wal-mart, then heading over to HD to purchase it. It is a bit more than other paints (my Wal-mart had it for $9 I think, so I paid about $8 at HD), but I didn't have to pre-sand and didn't need a primer. So worth it in my book!

Scrappy Card

Just a simple card to use up some of my extras. This would be a great card to mass-produce just to use my scrap pile up! I didn't get all inky on this one, I used a sanding block instead ;)

Hubby is talented, too

This is how it all began:

planter boxes and fence panels. He makes all shapes & sizes, these are the most popular.

He's actually CRAZY talented! Since he was laid off in April, he hasn't had full-time employment. We've actually been "behind" since December 26, 2010 when he got laid off from his good job. Yes, he got laid off the day after Christmas. We had no idea, it was a total shock. And it sucked.
We had to have work as I was 4 months pregnant at the time with our 3rd child, so he took what he could at a $20k/year paycut. Even though he hated that job, it was a job with steady paychecks to support ourselves.
We sold a car, we moved into a cheaper place, I got crazy into coupons, we did everything we could to help make ends meet.
Long (depressing) story short, here we are without a real "Job" and still have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. PRAISE JESUS!!
Hubby had a hobby of wood-working, so he decided to get into it and treat it like a full-time job, with me as his manager, YES!! :)
We have business cards, a Face Book fan page, flyers out, and have had success with our goal of keeping our family fed.
His work is AMAZING and I want to share it with you.

This is a modern style fence that the customer had thought of and Michael (my handsome husband) helped design.

He makes fence panels and also installs them making full fences. I love this style of short fence, it has a custom design on the top of it that I think is gorgeous!

Bunk Beds! These come apart to become two twin sized beds when you're ready to separate the kiddos. The ladder detaches and can go on either side of the bed so you are limitless on moving it around the room.

A sand box that you can sit in without getting sandy! The top opens up to become bench seating on both sides. I want one of these :)

Our motto is: "you think it, We build it" because we started out not knowing what to build but needing money, so when someone said they wanted something we said, "YOU GOT IT!". A motto was born... :)
I would absolutely LOVE the support if you could visit our Face Book page, take a look at his stuff, and maybe share it. We are still trying to stay afloat and any/all help would be appreciated. Thanks my scrappy friends!!
Teitzel & Co. Click HERE

Dishcloth Apron

My biggest complaint in the kitchen is that the baby constantly takes the dish towel off the oven rack so when I'm washing my hands, there's nothing to dry them off on.

Seriously.
HATE it!!

So I took an old dishcloth (there was a hole in it, and the edges were worn pretty bad) and "fancied" it up.
To hide the hole, I made a pocket out of an old T-shirt sleeve. I hid the worn edges with a pretty pleated layer of lace and another old T-shirt. To make the tie around, I used the bottom seam part of the old T-shirt since it should hold up well, and let's face it. It keeps the theme.

I haven't cooked with it yet, think I made it a bit short for me, I'd like more towel. This one now belongs to my daughter, the lovely model you see (isn't she just plain GORGEOUS?!).

When I make mine, I will applique something on the pocket before I sew it to the towel. I'm really bummed I didn't think of that with this one :(

Family Command Center

This is how our family of 5 (currently 8) keeps it all together. We have our calendar up and i put everyones activities on it. Guess what? COLOR CODED!! I assigned a colored marker to everyone so at a glance I know who has what.

Got the boards from Wal*Mart and guess what... they're magnetic!!

I hate to hear "What's for dinner" at least twice per kid, per day. That's at least 12 times per day!! Sooo, dinner is planned out in advance and all I have to do is point.

This is a 12x12 shadow box that I found at a garage sale. I painted it white, distressed it, added a lovely piece of paper as a background, and viola! Ready for my menu! I printed the menu out on regular printer paper, tore and inked the edges, then straight pinned in place.

Found this big ole frame also at a garage sale, SUPER cheap. I created a mat around it with scrapbook paper so my regular printer paper would fit inside it. I printed off the kids daily, weekly, and monthly chores on one side, the other side is for miscellaneous stuff I want them to get done. With the paper under the glass, we get to use it as a dry erase board!!

I was given the chalk board clip board as a birthday gift and decided to use it with this project. We have 4 hanging clipboards under the big board to keep individual papers from getting lost in the shuffle. Everyone has their own board so they are responsible for keeping track of their own papers. LOVE the accountability!

Repurposed Planter

BEFORE

Normal run-of-the-mill thick wire over-the-rail planter.
All I did was spray paint it.

AFTER

I have a perfect caddy for all those necessities that should be at hands reach while changing my little guy. Perfect!

Home Made Smash Book

At one of our last M.O.P.S. meetings, the craft was "Smash Books".

I teach the class using the books from K & Company at my local Michael's store, but honestly I prefer this kind.
This is what I call the "Cram-What-You-Can Book"

Seriously. To save money on scrapbooks, make your own. Head to the craft store to get some rings (like $3 for 6, I think) and then just use scraps!

I decided to go for texture. I got canvas pieces, rope, twine, netting, magazine paper, cardstock, envelopes, cardboard... anything that I thought might not get used, I used. A lot of the pages are made with 12x12 paper cut into fourths (so 6x6 squares) and glued to each other. I only glued 3 sides though, make every page a pocket! Give me glue, a paper trimmer, a pile of junk mail and a Crop-o-dile, I'll give you a Smash Book!

This has been in the works for months now, I wanted to get as much in it as possible before giving to hubby for Father's Day. I got all the ticket stubs from our outings (Plays, Seahawks & Mariners games, Museum trips, etc), included family pictures of us & our parents, and found miscellaneous stuff that I know he loves. I found a great vintage koala bear postcard at a garage sale for next to nothing, also found some vintage Father's Day cards that just happened to say the perfect things :)

FREE photo book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Only one day left to grab this FREE 8x8 photo book from Shutterfly! Enter code at checkout: XHBN-BNJJ-G69D-N3WBBU

This one is for my little guy. His first year of life and all the memories we made.
Enjoy!

FOR SALE

I have RETIRED rubber stamp sets, scrapbook kits, cardstock packs, and rub ons from Stampin' Up! for sale. Some new, some used. Check out my facebook page to see what's available.
Click HERE

mini paper bag album

i will be teaching a great class at my local Michael's store later this month on paper bag albums.

these are super easy
-my kids are making one
cheap to make
-hello?! paper bags?!
-use the sticky tape OR hot glue
perfect size for scraps
-goodbye pile!

for info on these super cute paper flowers, click here.


love the distressed look on any (and every) thing.

it's almost better with the great earth tones of a good 'ol lunch sack!

worlds cheapest adhesive? dollar store glue gun, with glue sticks found at thrifts stores or the dollar store. i know not everything works with hot glue, but if it does, *cheap* *cheap*

every page is lined with scraps from my pile

all ink distressed, of course :)

you don't have to have scrap paper inside,

you can doodle, draw, or just adhere pictures

tabs are circle cut outs glued back to back around the edge of the sacks. great little page turners that can be customized!

you can also combine the paper with the doodles

here i did a two-tone page with coordinating paper

and "attatched" them with faux stitches (doodling)

you can "stitch" borders for another amazing sewn look

the word "spot" was me using the cricut to cut out the word "spotted" for another project.

here i used the negative of the word to let the bag show through

just another way to use scraps

the bookmark tag is cut out paper, placed back to back, with the ribbon adhered to the inside of them

for the back i continued with the negative use of die cut words and flowers

i love this little book. can't wait to fill all the little nooks & crannies with memories and treasures!

you can see a great tutorial here

Christmas wreathes

i made two wreathes this year. the red & white one was made for my mother in law. the blue and silver one was for us (hubby loves the look of those two colors at Christmas time!)

i got all supplies from the $ store and michaels AFTER Christmas last year when every holiday item was up to 80% off. i went back a couple of weeks ago to stock up on holiday items for next Christmas. can't beat clearance!

secret books

this year was a "homemade" Christmas. i had a secret book as a child, and remember fondly stuffing my treasures into the hollow space, and hiding it on a shelf to trick my sister who would, without a doupt scour my room in search of them.

i found some older hardback readers digests at a local thrift store. after covering the outside of the pages with mod podge and letting it dry, i used a craft knife to hollow it out. once hollow, i covered the inside with mod podge also.

hope the boys in the family enjoy keeping their treasures hidden from their younger siblings!

my new website

it is still a work in progress, but since i have it listed in the side bar, i should probably share it with you :)
i now have a website to share my ideas on inexpensive home decor items, cheap meal ideas for your family, couponing tips, and of course, a place to sell my handmade goodies. please visit intricate simplicities.
keep in mind, i'm working on it a little bit every day, and with all the Christmas projects i'm working on, i'm not expecting the site to be fully up until after the holidays.
i will continue to post my craftiness here, and most of it can be purchased on the site.

merry Christmas! remember the true reason for the season!!

tea bag holders

so i did mine a bit diffrent than the tutorial, mainly to save paper. paper=$ afterall :)

found a great 36pc stack of holiday paper at Michael's for $12.99. i used my 50% off joannes coupon to make it $6.50. i think that was a great price since all the 48pc stacks were "on sale" for $11.99 and not eligible for coupons.

the thing i learned with this project: bone folders can be extremely handy!

re-vamping a rocker

BEFORE (although i forgot to take the "before" shot before i had spray painted) meets AFTER:

i am just in love with how it came out! this fabric is phenominal (thanks wal*mart for finally carrying beautiful and current appolstry fabric!!) and it matches our decor. I did my dining set (you'll see that soon) in it along with a window valance for the kitchen.

We actually had a large garage sale once we decided to move, and tried to sell all of our furniture. i was so sick of looking at it, i came to the conclusion that it had to go! well, it didn't sell. none of it. so i got to spray painting! i sprayed it a glossy white then did a clear overcoat. my aunt (thanks aunt z!) has been helping me learn to sew now that i have a machine, so i decided to take apart the padding on the current chair and re-use it with better fabric. YEAH!! i'm so proud i didn't mess it up, well, that you can see in the photo anyways. "just flip it over!", that's what i say!

PS: i'm aware that i spelled appolstry wrong. wish i could find the spell check...